The President’s task force on identity theft his week urged the White House Office of Management and Budget to issue official guidance to federal agencies on how to respond when they lose citizens’ personal information in data breaches. We couldn’t agree more. It’s a simple, almost obvious step, but one that’s long overdue.

While none of the guidance included in the task force’s interim recommendations will halt the epidemic of identity theft, the document contains thoughtful recommendations that could — if properly implemented — help lessen the impact of privacy crimes on citizens.

ID theft is a huge threat and one that will require the strenuous efforts of law enforcement at the federal, state and local level to bring under control. The task force report offers an important reassurance that the federal government is treating this problem with the gravity it deserves.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Consumer Privacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.